Spooky Walk a Boon for Candy Lovers, Local Businesses Alike

October 28, 2024
• Trick-or-treaters got an early taste of Halloween during the Park and Recreation’s annual Spooky Walk.

Walking through Town Center Saturday, kids in bright costumes — accompanied by some parents in onesies and even some spirited pooches — paraded from storefront to storefront for early Halloween candy. Aspiring firefighters, doctors and astronauts smiled as they chose their favorite sweet, and opposite them, handing out the candy, business owners smiled just as wide.

The event’s success comes from the children’s joy and the partnerships with local organizations, Recreation Supervisor Chris Burnham said. Between 40 to 50 businesses participated this year, he added.

“It’s a combination of offering support to our local businesses here, which is important to me, but also bringing our community together and celebrating the holiday together,” Burnham said. “Also, all the costumes are really cool. I love the ones that the families all do together.”

Bonnie Turco and her ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy sat outside Crosby Jewelers on Highland Avenue with bowls of candy. She’s represented her husband’s store for the Spooky Walk since her kids grew up, she said.

The fall is Turco’s favorite time of year, and Halloween is a big reason why.

“I just love the kids. I love it, I love it, I love it,” Turco said. “It’s so much fun, and Halloween is so much fun… I don’t even understand what most of the costumes are, but I love to see the little girls dressed up like fairies.”

Turco said she appreciates the visibility the walk brings to the business community. As groups gathered outside a store on Chapel Street, one parent remarked, “There are these stores I never thought existed until I’m standing in front of it.”

Now in its 27th year, Spooky Walk expanded to include a “marathon of special events” across town, including pumpkin decorating, spooky storytime at the library, a petting zoo, arts and crafts and more, Burnham said.

The Fall Family Day typically falls on another day, Burnham said, but given the rising popularity of Spooky Walk, Park and Recreation hoped to make the day even more special. In 2019, about 250 kids signed up, but this year, close to 700 did, Burnham said.

“We haven’t really done anything different or special in terms of marketing or anything like that,” Burnham said of the walk. “It’s just all been natural growth, which is also really cool to see.”

Blow-up costumes are “all the rage” this year, mom Morgan Aronsan said. Her son Max, 8, joined the trend as an inflatable guy strapped to a jet pack, but he also has a grim reaper costume he might wear on Halloween night. The Spooky Walk is an opportunity to “make memories in Needham,” she said.

Families also dressed as characters from Pokemon, “Sailor Moon” and “Bluey” gathered at Greene’s Field before descending on the town.

The Johnson family donned yellow beanies and goggles to become Minions this year — mom Jacklyn said it was her 3-year-old son Tommy’s idea. Both Tommy and older brother Ben, 5, looked forward to getting lollipops and chocolate with their baby sister Anna.

They’ve joined the Spooky Walk for about three years and enjoy seeing neighbors and friends take part with them, Jacklyn Johnson said.

“Needham has so many fun activities for little kids,” she said.

After watching “The Wizard of Oz” three times, 6-year-old Ariana wanted to dress as Dorothy, and Mark Kaplan accompanied her as the cowardly lion. Ariana wore Dorothy’s blue gingham dress and braids, sans Toto the dog.

“I have a stuffed animal of Toto at my house,” Ariana said, “and my parents said I could put him in my basket on real Halloween.”

“This is just the dry run to make sure the costumes are working well,” Mark Kaplan said. “We had a lot of fun last year, all the candy and meeting new friends.”

Because the fall is their busy season, Burnham said he looks forward to a slew of town activities.

“What I love about this time of year is we have so many special events, and there are so many cool ways to celebrate the holidays, but also to engage in that sense of community with Needham at large,” Burnham said.

Martial arts students sometimes wear their dojo uniforms for the holiday, which gives staff at Steve DeMasco’s Shaolin Studios a chuckle. RJ Oringer, chief instructor and program director, said the studio has participated in Spooky Walk for the last decade, thanks to their own students.

For the last three years, Oringer has seen the same kid trick-or-treating in an inflatable Minion costume. Watching them be silly and have fun is a joy, he said.

“The two and one-year-olds that kind of waddle in here in their costumes, it’s so funny,” Oringer said. “If there’s any reason that I do this, it’s because it’s the most adorable thing.”